'Anna…Kitchen la tap marupadiyum leak aaghuthu' Srishti turned the faucet down with utmost difficulty and asked again , 'Enna panrathu?'
'Ne edhum pannatha chellam..' she heard Barath's voice from the living room and heard footsteps indicating that he was coming to the kitchen, he came to hold her hand checking for any scratches before looking at the sink,
'Enaku onnu illa na.. Anga paaru!' she told him,
' Ayooo… veetla neraya vela irukum polaruke.. Bathroom layum tap sari illa.. ingayum sari illa..
Front door lock uhm fix pannanum.. ne vera oru book shelf vekka solli keta..athuvum maranthuten kochikaatha da Papa' he smiled sheepishly and Srishti chuckled looking at him.
Despite the mess and the shortcomings, family truly is forever!
'Athunaala enna vidu.. Vaa namba kadaiku poitu apdiyae plumber ahyum kootitu vanthrulam' she told him , knowing how difficult it is to lift pieces of wood alone,
'Ne Vanda papa.. na Chandru kootitu poren .. ' he told her, putting on his jacket as he grabbed his car keys,
'Bathrama poitu vaanga.. ahn.. lunch na panidren..velila saapda vanda.. ' she told him and gave him a side hug,
'Sari da chellam.. Na alarm set panitu poren.. edhum na athu press pannanum sari ah?' he asked and watched a disinterested Chandru set the alarm with a blank face. He didn't even bother to say bye as he stepped out of the door.
Srishti smiled, masking her hurt again.
Srishti watched her brothers leave , her mind distracting her misery by thinking about Lunch. Her taste buds felt immensely British that day and she made up her mind to cook some authentic English vegetarian food. Her eyes fell on the cauliflower in the refrigerator and took it out, it instantly reminded her of her parents.
Her mother came from West Bengal and her father was a Tamizhan , they fell in love during their Undergraduate days and married young. Srishti remembered having a lot of Cauliflower in her childhood as Bengal faced the wrath of scarcity at that time.
Her eyes teared up as she envisioned her parents cooking together, laughing at sweet nothings despite being hit by the hardest storms, how they loved each other despite the struggles. How they were strong enough together, through scarcity, through social agitation and through the years. If only they were alive,
They'd have loved him.
Her eyes crinkled another happy tear as she thought of the man of her dreams as she cleaned and boiled the Cauliflower to make roasted vegetables along vegan cottage pie.
Srishti forgot the world as she mashed the potatoes for the pie before mincing the vegetables along with soaked lentils. Her eyes fell on the butter beside and made up her mind to make a Banoffee pie as well.
She remembered how Haritha had taught her the recipe that day, describing her son's love for the combination of chocolate, coffee and bananas. Srishti chuckled at herself.
She was making food for his preferences already.
She had just finished with the upper layer of the biscuit when she saw a figure standing by the window, her palms swiftly reached for her phone and opened the application that Adhiran had installed in it, the app that accessed his cameras. But there was nobody in the spot but Srishti saw something move, she was sure of it,
Her insides shivered as she heard someone knock the door, Srishti's tiny fingers pressed the alert button that'd notify her brother immediately. Her heart stopped for a moment seeing Dinesh standing outside the door,
